Georgia's Mercer suffers knee injury

Posted: Saturday, February 10, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Clinching a bid to the NCAA Tournament just got much tougher for Georgia.

Mike Mercer, Georgia's second-leading scorer and standout defender, suffered what appeared to be a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee with 9:45 left in the Bulldogs game at South Carolina on Saturday night.

The sophomore guard was injured as he streamed down the right side of the court with the ball. South Carolina's Tre Kelley was step for step with him, and when Mercer went to plant his right foot to elude Kelley his knee buckled awkwardly. He writhed in pain as Georgia coach Dennis Felton and the training staff quickly ran onto the court and attended to him. At one point, Felton tightly embraced Mercer as a member of South Carolina's training staff popped his knee back into place.

An air cast was fastened to Mercer's right leg from the knee down and he was wheeled off the court by a stretcher.

Mercer had been in a four-game shooting drought before Wednesday's home loss to Florida. But he scored a game-high 15 points against the Gators and was on his way to another steady game.

He was 5-for-10 from the field for 12 points and had secured four rebounds and five assists.